Serological dynamics and risk factors of Besnoitia besnoiti infection in breeding bulls from an endemically infected purebred beef herd

Abstract

Bovine besnoitiosis has been deemed a re-emerging disease in Western Europe and considered endemic in Spain, Portugal, France and in some areas of Northern Italy. This report refers to an infection outbreak in a purebred beef herd from Northern Italy involving a large number of bulls. In October 2013, 544 animals were serologically tested with an in-house ELISA followed by a confirmatory Western blot to evaluate Besnoitia besnoiti seroprevalence. A year later, 461 animals were then serologically re-tested together with imported animals (n = 268). Overall, 812 animals were involved in the study. Histology and immunohistochemistry were performed on skin biopsies of suspected animals and several tissue samples from a slaughtered bull. In the first sampling, 100 animals were seropositive (18.4%); in the second sampling, prevalence increased up to 36.5%, with incidence calculated at 39.6%. The risk factor analysis revealed that the infection was associated with age (OR = 1.007) and sex, with males presenting a greater risk (OR = 2.006). In fact, prevalence values in bulls increased from 29.6 to 56.7%, with an incidence of infection of 53.3%. Moreover, mating with a seropositive bull enhanced infection risk for a seronegative cow (OR = 1.678). Clinical signs typical of bovine besnoitiosis were found in seven seropositive animals, with confirmation of B. besnoiti through histology and immunohistochemistry. The study outcomes confirm that bovine besnoitiosis is a disease with serious economic impact on beef cattle breeding, particularly on bulls in service. Good management practises such as clinical monitoring and serological testing of imported animals should be implemented to control its occurrence.

Besnoitiosis: An Emerging Parasitic Disease in Yaks (Bos grunniens) and Tibetan Sheep (Ovies aries) on the Qinghai Tibetan Plateau, China

“…The seroprevalence of besnoitiosis infection in Tibetan sheep was 3.21%, which was in concomitant with the results reported in sheep (4.68%) in Spain (Gutiérrez-Expósito et al, 2017). In current research, area, year and age were found to be associated risk factors of besnoitiosis in Tibetan sheep and yak, which was in accordance with the previous studies (Talafha et al, 2015;Gazzonis et al, 2017). Sex, in the present study was not shown to be a risk factor both in yaks and Tibetan sheep which contradicted with previous results in which had presented male cattle at higher risk of infection (Gazzonis et al, 2017).…”

“…In current research, area, year and age were found to be associated risk factors of besnoitiosis in Tibetan sheep and yak, which was in accordance with the previous studies (Talafha et al, 2015;Gazzonis et al, 2017). Sex, in the present study was not shown to be a risk factor both in yaks and Tibetan sheep which contradicted with previous results in which had presented male cattle at higher risk of infection (Gazzonis et al, 2017). However, obvious differences were found in animals of different gender in current study ( Fig.…”

Naturally acquired bovine besnoitiosis: Disease frequency, risk and outcome in an endemically infected beef herd

“…During the summer period, six of nine bulls got infected. A recent study in an Italian herd also reported high incidences among bulls with twice as much seropositive animals within 1 year (Gazzonis et al., ). In contrast, in our study, serological incidence rates between bulls and females were nearly the same.…”

Effect of parasite dose and host age on the infection with Besnoitia besnoiti tachyzoites in cattle

“…On the other hand, we selected males for these experiments, even though both sexes may be equally infected (Álvarez‐García et al., ). However, bulls are at higher risk of acquiring and transmitting the infection as they serve a large number of cows and they appear to show more acute signs and a higher mortality rate (Álvarez‐García et al., ; Gazzonis et al., ). Moreover, testicles are target organs for B. besnoiti replication and persistence (Kumi‐Diaka, Wilson, Sanusi, Njoku, & Osori, ; Pols, ) and recent studies have provided evidence for the serious consequences of male sterility for herd fertility due to B. besnoiti infection (Esteban‐Gil et al.,; Gazzonis et al., ).…”